


Eyes Red as Blood

by WindowSil



Series: Kuriari Saves The World! [5]
Category: Dragon Quest IV, Dragon Quest Series
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:55:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27217537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WindowSil/pseuds/WindowSil
Summary: Halloween Special: It's Alena's very first time trick-or-treating, and she's having a blast! But Kiryl starts to worry she's acting far too laid-back for the occasion.
Relationships: Crifto | Kiryl/Alena
Series: Kuriari Saves The World! [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1933966
Kudos: 1





	Eyes Red as Blood

**Author's Note:**

> Contains graphic depictions of violence, other gross content, and dark themes.

Day after day, the air outside became cooler, and the nights became longer. The moon was waxing, soon to be full in the night sky in the coming days. It was nearing a rather special time of the year, a festival shared by all cultures in the world. One that not even the humble residents of the Maestral continent could pass up. In the modest castle of Zamoksva, the young tsarevna curiously searched the library for a book that could enlighten her on the mysteries of this holiday: _All Hallows’ Eve_ , or, better known as simply _Halloween_.

Alena was never allowed to celebrate Halloween before. The whole premise of it was dressing up as something scary, going out to the nearby towns, and trick-or-treating; knocking on every door and asking for candy. Sure, Alena had access to plenty of candy whenever she wanted, but the idea of dressing up as a monster and scaring people for fun was one she always felt like she was missing out on. Alena recalled the many times in the past she had frightened Kiryl with her strength, and gazed upon his terrified face. So much emotion was expressed in the priest’s eyes, eyebrows, cheeks and mouth! It made her feel powerful, and it made her laugh with joy. And yet, she longed to experience similar things with entirely new folks. How nice it would be to see a completely unique face display its own personality and emotion!

…Of course, she also wouldn’t turn down the opportunity to get free candy, too. She was willing to give up her martial artist’s diet for some self-indulgence on such a special occasion.

To Tsar Stepan, the major issue with Halloween was the whole ‘going out’ part. Alena wasn’t ever allowed outside the castle until recently. This was going to be her first Halloween to celebrate now that she had finally convinced her father to let her go free. Excited, the tsarevna now pried through Borya’s belongings, having found no noteworthy books in the library, in search of positively spooky scriptures to prepare her for the night. The bookworm of a mage had a lot of rare pieces in his chambers, most related to magic, and a few on history.

One nearly-completely black grimoire stood out to the curious lady, so she pulled it out. It read, ‘Necronomicon’. Foreign runes shone a sinister lime green on the cover.

Alena looked over the book quizzically. “Hm, this does not look correct. I shall place it back.” But when she put the strange book away, she noticed a blackish stain on her hand where she had touched the book. “Yoy? It is as if book was bathed in black ink. I must wash this off.”

In the old man’s bathroom, the girl had to scrub super hard with lots of soap to get the black marks to come off her hands. After she finally cleansed herself, her hand felt sore. Whether it was because of the book having some dark effect on her, or it was just the vigorous scrubbing, though, she could not tell. She opted not to think about it too hard, and continued where she left off at Borya’s bookshelf. After eyeing the shelf again, she removed the next mysterious book that stood out to her. This one looked more like a history book, and its title read ‘Festivals and Traditions’. She took a closer look at its contents. It seemed like this was exactly what she was looking for! Sitting down in a nearby chair, she flipped to the section about All Hallows’ Eve.

The tradition had begun as a day of peace between humans and monsters, using candy to celebrate. The origin comes from the night of October 31st, many years ago. A group of sages prophesied that an entity even greater and more evil than the usual monsters would be awakened to roam the world through some supernatural force. The prophecies turned true, and when this first happened, as per the sages’ recommendations, humans and monsters formed a pact to not harm each other and instead stick together on All Hallows’ Eve, to ward off the evil forces with their combined numbers. It also involved the humans dressing up as scary beasts to further their intimidation. Every year, the evil would arise and loom in the land, and the inhabitants would valiantly drive it back. However, over time, the evil seemed to fade… No one knows exactly when the first occurrence of this evil happened, why the entity exists and where it came from, or if the legends still hold true today. As it stands, the pact was never forgotten, and festivities continued every year, despite the absence of danger. Most people now see it as a time to mingle with monsters, scare and prank others lightheartedly, and eat sweets, all in celebration of peace between the races and their many victories over the evil.

“Interesting, indeed!” Satisfied, Alena closed the book and returned it to its position on the bookshelf she had taken it from. Seems she needed to think of the perfect costume to wear! Adventuring outside for a bit to look at the nearby monsters hanging about, the girl finally came to a decision, and ordered her servants to help her in the preparation. Now all that was left was to wait for Halloween to come…

* * *

Alena had been exuberant and fidgety all day. She desperately wished to run outside and start knocking on doors, but her retainer had reminded her that trick-or-treating didn’t really start until sundown, otherwise it was disrespectful to demand candy while folks were still eating their evening meals. The young woman struggled to maintain her patience, until Kiryl finally informed her that it was a good time for them to change into their costumes.

“Ahahah, you look great!” said the young redhead. She looked up to her friend in his guise. Kiryl was dressed up as a scarecrow, and looked rather nervous about his outfit. But it looked rather realistic and detailed. He wore rough beige-ish overalls, with various coloured patches of fabric stitched on certain parts of the legs to cover up rips—minus one tear that remained on his left knee and exposed some skin. He bore a green and black flannel shirt, and a straw sun hat. Lastly, extra bits of straw were stuffed around the openings of his clothes to give off the scarecrow feel a bit more. Alena was impressed by his handiwork. “How cool it is that you put it together yourself!”

“Truly? Well, if you believe it so, then I suppose we are set. But you certainly have more premium costume, Tsarevna! I am sure you will give spooks all around!” the man replied.

“Thank the tailors! They did superlative work on my costume of succubat~” She struck a triumphant pose. The costume she wore looked so real, it was as if she was simply wearing the corpse of a supreme succubat. The main body fabric was white. Her arms and legs had the typical scarlet red fluffs near the ankles or wrists. She had sharp black claws, a tail with a fluff on the tip, two large bat ears on her head… and a black cape that was tattered and ripped near the lower end. But if Alena held up parts of the cape with her arms in just the right position, it would look like bat wings! Kiryl took a long look at his friend, and she looked quite intimidating, as if she could suddenly start flying or jump at Kiryl and nip his eyes out. In the fading sun’s reddish rays of light seeping in through the window, her eyes looked redder than ever before, and it unsettled the priest. He took a deep breath to remind himself she was no monster underneath, and smiled at her.

“And it fits you to perfection, Tsarevna. Let us be outside for trick-or-treating. Our first destination: Zalenagrad!”

“Yayyy!” the tsarevna cheered.

And so, Alena and Kiryl, the succubat and scarecrow, left the castle with their empty pillowcases, hoping to fill them up by the time they returned.

* * *

The sun had completely set by now, and the moon reigned supreme in the sky, casting pale moonlight down on the land.

“Thank you for allowing me to accompany you on this night, Tsarevna,” Kiryl said out of the blue as the two marched from Zamoksva to Zalenagrad.

“How could I not? You are my favourite person to scare, aha!” She skipped a bit faster in those moments, proving her excitement. “We shall to experience this celebration together!”

Kiryl gulped. She didn’t actually plan on giving him a fright this night, did she? No, she must have just been joking. She was always such a comedic little girl. The scarecrow man nodded and hurried to keep up with Alena’s increasing pace. However, the faster they ran, the more difficult it was to discern their surroundings as they rushed further into the darkness ahead of them. All of the sudden, the moon became obscured by clouds, their main source of light completely disappearing, causing the priest to lose sight of his liege. Kiryl could make out the faint orange glow of lamp light coming from a small town in the distance—Zalenagrad! As he ran for it, however, the light quickly vanished and a dark grey mist filled the man’s field of view. He was surrounded by fog, and alone. Kiryl inched forward, straining to hear the sound of footsteps from anywhere nearby, but no such sound was audible. A pit began to form in his throat, as he feared being lost, and worse, that Alena might be in danger.

_Must just be some a-awful weather tonight… certainly Tsarevna is safe…?_

Kiryl stopped in place to mutter a prayer that spawned soft light from his hands, illuminating a small area around him, attempting to locate the tsarevna that had run off without him, though most of the light reflected off the fog and into his eyes, stinging them and causing him to recoil in pain. Cancelling the spell and rubbing his eyes, Kiryl went for Plan B: Yelling. “Tsarevna!!” he called, hands cupped around his mouth.

“Kiryl?” echoed a familiar, feminine voice from far away. Kiryl turned toward the sound and made a sprint for it.

“Tsarevna?!” he repeated between breaths.

“Kiryl!” the voice returned.

At last, Kiryl could spy a dark silhouette growing in size in the mist. He skidded to a stop in the grass, and the figure made itself present. The two were reunited just as the moon peeked out from above the clouds to spill its light upon them. Though as a silhouette she looked just as monstrous as any archdemon, when Kiryl could make out the bright orange hair of hers, he knew she was a friend. Of the two, one stood with a face of puzzlement, the other with exasperation. Kiryl sighed. “Tsarevna, do not rush blindly forward like so! Fog is too much perilous. We must to remain in close proximity.” Another typical lecture of his, one which Alena tended to ignore.

“Is just fog!” She shrugged her arms. “Traverse through it swiftly! You had me worried for moment… worried you may have seen your own shadow and thought it was monster!” The girl broke out into laughter at her own joke. Kiryl was unimpressed.

“Alena, it is for safety! We do not know what evils may lurk around here. Please to be serious.” His expression of concern shut the lady up, and she showed a face of guilt.

“Oh, alright… Yes, I have given you my fair share of spooks in past, so I will refrain from now on. I apologize, I comprehend how apprehensive you are, especially since this is first Halloween of mine. Let us be of utmost caution! We shall stick together and work as team to frighten others!” Her eyes lightened up at her proposal, knowing it would please her retainer.

“Thank you for listening to me, Tsarevna.” The priest showed a sign of respect by calmly placing his fist on his chest, and he let himself smile.

“I suppose I was carried away in Halloween spirit! But we are friends, nyet? We should not be frightening each other! We should—” Alena began, but before she could finish her thought, a sudden gust of wind surprised them both and prompted them to adopt fortified stances, as well as close their eyes and shield their faces. “Whoa!”

Fog swirled around them, whistling winds preventing their words of questioning from being heard. Kiryl reached with one arm to try to grab Alena’s hand and hold it, but she was a bit too far away. His fears rose again, amplified by newfound regret that he had not immediately evacuated the fog with Alena. Then, all in one moment, a flash of lightning blinded the two trick-or-treaters through their eyelids, the deep tones of thunder rumbled through their bodies, and a maniacal, cackling voice filled the air. “AHAHAHAH! FOOOOOLS!” shouted the voice victoriously, the source seeming to be descending from the sky.

Alena was the first to open her eyes again after the mists cleared. Behind the dark outline shone the moon’s light, but Alena could still recognize the entity before them. She gasped in surprise, and stood up happily. “Psaro!”

“Psaro?!” Kiryl repeated, in a more worried version of Alena’s surprise, yet also relieved. The man’s fear petered out and he was left dumbstruck staring at the tall, silver-haired and red-eyed demon man standing before them.

“Oh, it’s just you two. Hmm, you guys were kind to me, so I guess I can keep you alive…” The demon placed his thumb and index finger on his chin, thinking hard. “Ah!” he concluded, his lips curling up into a devilish grin. “Alena, my girl! How splendid you look in that succubat costume. Mind if I… enhanced it by a small margin for you?”

“Ooh? How do you mean?” Alena asked, intrigued.

“I see you seem to lack plastic fangs in your mouth. Here, take these.” The Manslayer stepped forward and produced a set of white plastic fangs in the palm of his hand. He held it out to the little succubat girl, who graciously accepted the offer.

“Thank you, Psaro, you are too kind!” Alena carefully put the fangs on straight away, fastening them around her teeth and then showing a toothy smile to her retainer when finished. He was not looking at her, but rather at Psaro, with steady brows and a frown.

“Hm, yes, it is almost as if I am ‘too’ kind, eh? Well, I’ll be seeing you two off, then. Hope your night is full of frights and horrors!” With the sound of a spell being cast, Psaro vanished into the night sky via Zoom, leaving Kiryl and Alena alone. The fog finally lifted, revealing the path to Zalenagrad close by.

Kiryl’s expression turned from pokerfaced to determined. “He is gone. Now, Alena, remove the plastic fangs and give them to me.”

“What? Why?” she asked in protest.

“Clearly this is some manner of trick. Did you not witness suspicious tone of speech? Tsarevna, I fear these plastic fangs of yours are cursed.” The scarecrow man got closer to the woman, who backed away from him in disagreement.

“I do not feel any different, Kiryl, please! These premium fangs will add much to my design! I trust Psaro’s kindness. How come you are so cold and skeptical?” She crossed her arms and looked at him with a face of disappointment.

Kiryl stopped, his emotion shifting to sheer concern. “Do not inform me you have already fully equipped them? Oh, no, no, no! You will not be able to remove them if so! We will have to visit church of Zalenagrad—”

“Oh… you are correct, my mistake!” the tsarevna admitted as she was trying and failing to pull off the fangs, in response to Kiryl’s comment. “Hold on… are you not priest? Can you not perform rite of benediction on me yourself?”

“Erm, it is safer to conduct inside church walls, but yes. I can attempt it here, since we are in emergency,” Kiryl decided. “Stay still.”

Alena stood as still as a statue, as if Kaclang had been cast on her. Kiryl gently placed his hands inside the lady’s agape mouth, chanting a mix of a prayer and a spell, over and over again, getting louder and louder. It was so rare that the priest ever actually removed curses from people. Usually, it meant they had accidentally equipped a piece of cursed armour, and they could no longer take it off, and had to suffer the negative effects. This was no different, although Kiryl wasn’t exactly sure what the negative effects were even going to be—for Alena’s safety, he just wished to take it off as soon as possible. With confidence in his abilities, Kiryl grasped the fangs with his bare fingers, with the holy light of green magic leaking from his fingers across Alena’s teeth. Once all the teeth were covered in the essence, the fangs finally popped off. The priest took them out of his princess’ mouth without hesitation, and the magical light began to fade away.

In a grateful tone, Kiryl said, “At last! You are saved, Tsarevna. Now we shall to enjoy festivities without worry.”

“Ah, thank you!” the tsarevna replied. “What a close call. I am grateful to have a priest of such utility as my comrade!”

Relieved, Kiryl did the final step of furiously ripping apart the plastic fangs and burying them in the ground beneath where they stood, hopefully never to be found again. Alena helped dig the hole and cover up the item in dirt. They patted down the ground, dusted off their hands, and finally headed to Zalenagrad together.

* * *

It was time to begin the Halloween festivities! The princess succubat and priest scarecrow arrived in the town at just the right time. Good thing they left early! The town was bustling with activity. Children in costumes ran left and right. Many were dressed up as slime family monsters, a few as drackies, some as zombies, mummies and even skeletons. What really threw off Kiryl, however, was the many REAL monsters roaming about. Of course, Alena knew this would be the case, having read the book of lore, but Kiryl certainly did not expect to see teeny sanguinis, stark ravens, and even one very fancy-looking succubat! It truly looked like a wondrous place Zalenagrad had transformed into. Where did these monsters even come from? Did they just look for the light of the town’s many lamps, torches and jack-o-lanterns? Perhaps. Halloween decorations filled the streets—cobwebs riddled with fake spiders covered nearly every building’s walls, fake bats hung from under the edges of roofs… and jack-o-lanterns surrounded the door of every house.

Alena sucked in a huge, long gasp of astonishment, gazing all around her at the many wonderful sights. “Eeeee~!” she squealed in joy, suddenly dashing forward. She grasped at her cape that flew behind her, pulling it up at the angle needed to make the cape mimic the look of bat wings. Then she flapped her wings as she ran in circles around the town! Kiryl watched with admiration as she enjoyed herself.

As Alena made herself part of the crowd, Kiryl started to notice the sounds of cawing around where he stood. Taking a glance behind, he took in the foreboding presence of a large group of stark ravens staring directly at him. Each one carried a skull. The skulls of fallen adventurers. The priest could feel his legs begin to tremble, his heart beating faster.

_Stay calm, they are just friends… aga, this is why I was never big fan of Halloween. It is too much fearful for me…_

Out of nowhere, an ever-so-bright flash of lightning filled the sky directly behind where Kiryl was facing. For a fraction of a second, the light cast a large shadow in front of Kiryl. The scarecrow man could spy the outline of his costume against the ground… and a long line extended upward from where his neck was. As if by some supernatural force, Kiryl felt a sudden sharp pain in his neck. Instinctively, his arms reached up to grasp his neck to pull off whatever force seemed to be choking him, but—as soon as his hands grabbed at his collarbone, the sensation had already fled entirely. Kiryl was shaken by the event, sweat dribbling down his face and his entire body shivering from the fear. He frantically turned around again, as the treacherous thunder rolled in. He saw that the tall object that had cast a shadow akin to a rope was in fact a tall lamp pole. A large sigh escaped him, relieving him of his present fear, but the priest’s mind was still tormented by the strange strained neck muscle of his.

_Just a coincidence? I do get sudden pains or itches now and again, but never before in my neck. Ugh, I wish to be with Tsarevna again, I am of much greater comfort with her. Where has she gone?_

Kiryl was upset to learn he had lost track of Alena’s whereabouts. As he squinted his eyes to search for the girl’s unmistakable ginger locks, he was shocked by the continuation of the cawing. This time, however, they became louder and louder, closer and closer. Within moments, Kiryl found himself overwhelmed and surrounded by stark ravens, each one pecking at him angrily.

“Caw! You smell like a priest. We hate priests!” one of the ravens shrieked in a hideous, high-pitched voice.

“Will you please leave me alonesome? I do not intend to harm any of you!” Kiryl begged, using his arms to protect his eyes, worried the most about pecks around that area. But he did not fight back.

“It’s just a prank bro, jeez… I mean, you’re literally a scarecrow!” The raven stopped attacking the poor scarecrow man to instead begin chuckling.

“Yeah, this is just irony at its finest! Hahah!”

Despite their unapologetic words, the monster birds seemed to have taken the hint and left the man alone, with a few loose black feathers floating about and the flap-flap of their wings fading off into the distance. Luckily for Kiryl, he was not harmed anywhere, although some nips of the birds’ beaks did pull tears open in his shirt in a few places. Oh, well! It would just add to the costume. In a few deep breaths, Kiryl recollected himself and made for the crowd of people to continue his search for his friend.

Meanwhile, the little succubat girl had been chatting with a friendly real succubat. The monster hovered in the air, her wings constantly flapping to keep her airborne. In one foot, she carried a bag of candies, and her other foot was empty, until she decided to reach into her bag and pull out a singular lollipop.

“Teehee~” giggled the fluffy demon with a great big smile. “Alena, you said? A sweet name, indeed! I’m honoured you decided to dress up as one of us~ Here, have this lollipop as a token of my appreciation~!” She held out her foot and dropped the candy into Alena’s accepting hands. The princess immediately placed the treat into her mouth to suck on it and prove her thankfulness to the succubat.

“Glad to have met you!” Alena agreed. “Now, if you will excuse me, I shall to relocate my friend for further Halloween adventures. Good night!” She waved the monster off, and just moments later, heard the harsh footfalls of her retainer approaching. Glancing over to him, she took note of the position of his eyebrows—they were curling up in a sort of worried-yet-relieved expression. “Tough navigation of crowd, eh?”

He completely ignored her comment. “As I stated, let us PLEASE remain beside one another,” the priest repeated, clasping his hands together as if praying, or begging.

“Sorry, sorry! I was of the mind that you were following close behind! We are simply in town, after all…” the girl said, almost sheepishly. “I only realized you had vanished again mere moments ago.”

Kiryl lightly facepalmed, letting his hand drag down his visage tiredly. “I see you have candy in your mouth already… Ahem. You merely interacted with fellow trick-or-treaters, I presume?”

“Indeed! I received many compliments on my outfit~ I seem rather popular!”

“Good, good! You are prepared to commence true trick-or-treating, now, then?”

“Certainly! Here, I shall take your hand, and we will not be separated again. Let us be gone!” The tsarevna hooked her arm around one of Kiryl’s, slipping her fingers between his to grasp his hand. Once comfortable, the two traversed through the town to reach the first house.

Things went smoothly to begin with. At each house, Kiryl and Alena walked up the lawn, admiring the various decorations, before arriving at the doorstep. Excited little Alena would knock three times on the door, and as soon as the owner opened up, she and Kiryl would say “Trick-or-Treat” in unison! They opened their pillowcases wide, and the guardian of the home would drop a few candies into each. They gave their thanks and moved onto the next house. It was rather simple. A few times, while they were given candy, they were also complimented on their costumes. Alena’s was very well received among many folks, and Kiryl’s wasn’t ignored either. The scarecrow man began to feel at ease, brushing aside his earlier worries and anxieties of Halloween. As he trick-or-treated with Alena, he enjoyed himself to his fullest. The girl’s face when the candy was dropped into her pillowcase was the purest thing the man had ever seen. The sparkle in her bright vermilion eyes, the wide, open-mouthed smile of hers, the way she squealed in glee whenever someone complimented her… it brought tears to Kiryl’s eyes. Everything was going to be okay.

Or so he had hoped.

* * *

Things got a tad bit more worrisome when the two reached the more… secluded part of town. The side furthest from the church, where cunning monsters had made their dens and only a few sketchy houses remained for the pair to visit. Not surprisingly, enlivened Alena couldn’t be convinced _not_ to check them out. Kiryl reluctantly agreed, silently praying for their safety. 

The succubat girl and scarecrow man approached an old house that almost looked abandoned. Kiryl frowned. He had never even seen that house in the town before. They were in the outskirts, surrounded by many tall, ancient trees, after all—all bare and leafless now. The cheery atmosphere of the center of town had long since faded away, and now only the two young and brave adventurers treaded to these solitary abodes. Alena brought her fist up to the worn, wooden door…

Knock, knock, knock!

Not a moment later, the door of the house creaked open slowly. A smiling elder peeked out from the darkness of her home. This was the first stay-at-home adult the two had seen who was wearing their own Halloween costume to spook the kids with. On her head she wore what seemed to be a witch's hat, with long spiderwebs drooping down from the brim. Her face was covered in warts, her nose long and pointed, her skin pale and sickly. She had a dark cloak wrapped around her body.

“Trick-or-Treat!” Alena recited with as much joy as every previous time she said the phrase. She seemed unphased by the woman’s ghastly appearance. However, her friend was stunned by it, unable to join in reciting the traditional phrase.

The lady at the door spoke. “Ah, visitors at last! A lovely succubat and… hm, a stoic scarecrow! Wonderful costumes. Would you two like some candy? Or perhaps even a special treat I prepared just for my first visitors~?” Her voice sounded like a kind grandma's, with something soothing about her tone. 

“Ooh, please to produce special treat!” requested the tsarevna, thrilled by the proposal. In response, the witch lady momentarily vanished into the darkness of the room behind her, then reappeared holding a flask of a bright blue, bubbly liquid. At the sight, the two trick-or-treaters set their pillowcases down on the ground. The girl snatched the flask from the woman's hands and sought to uncork it, but before she could, her retainer grasped her arm and steadied it. He had regained his senses, including his gut instincts, it seemed.

“Wait, Tsarevna. Permit me to make first consumption of drink in the event it may be some vile trick,” Kiryl suggested, carefully opening the flask. He just couldn’t help himself—something wasn’t right.

“Oh! Thank you, Kiryl! You may proceed.”

The man nodded, although suddenly feeling as if he regretted his choice when he looked at the unappetizing, fizzy fluid.

_It is for Tsarevna. Unlike usual sweets, this fluid is much too conspicuous. As her retainer and protector, I must do my duty and down this drink to ensure its contents are safe…_

Once he reassured himself that his instinct was the right one, he went to chug half the flask's liquid down. He spent a minute washing it down with the extra saliva his mouth produced at the sense of food. All the while, the old lady watched with a malicious snicker that Alena mistook for a genuine smile, to which she smiled back happily.

“How does it taste, Kiryl? I must know!!” the girl asked when the man had seemed to finish, with a look of joyful anticipation directed at him.

“I do not know how to describe… the flavour…” the priest confessed. His eyebrows were scrunched, either in confusion or disgust—Alena couldn’t tell. “It is so sugary and sweet! Too much, I mind. I fear it may make me hurl…”

As Kiryl began to lurch forward and cover his mouth, Alena came to a realization, with a gasp. She turned her gaze back to the witch and pointed an accusatory finger at her. “So this was foul trick! You have poisoned my friend!”

“Poisoned? Heheh, you have the wrong idea, dearie…” the witch replied with a deep and sinister chuckle.

“Huh?” Alena looked to her side again, in search of Kiryl, but the man had suddenly vanished while she wasn’t looking. After a full look at her surroundings, he was nowhere to be seen. Alena’s fury began to rise more and more. “What have you done to him?!” she screamed at the witch. “Disintegrated him? Inflated him until he floated away into sky? Turned him invisible? I demand satisfactory explanation!!”

She brought her right foot up, and in one smooth movement, stomped it down on the stone porch with a SLAM! Her threat brought considerable fear to the woman, but before Alena could capitalize on the situation, she heard a little squeak in her ear that caught her attention. It was unlike an insect or bird, no, it was almost like a mouse, but more… human. And strangest of all, it was calling her name.

_A fiend of yours, I presume? I shall dispose of it swiftly, then._

Alena hastily looked around her, the dim light of the area not making it easy to see where the sound was coming from—until she felt a gentle tug on the cloth of her leg. A small animal of some sort was pulling on the fuzzy fluff on her ankle. “Perish, puny rat!” the succubat girl cried, bringing an open palm to slap the dark silhouette of a creature off of her foot. But when her hand was about to collide with the creature in a sharp, lethal slap, she stopped her hand mere inches from the creature’s face, with a gasp, and her eyes widened in surprise when she recognized the figure. Instead, she scooped the little being up gently and brought him to her face. “Oh Goddess—Kiryl! You are so small!”

“I-I am not expired?” Kiryl asked in frightened confusion, his voice sounding chipmunk-like. He turned to face his friend, whose relatively massive head loomed over his tiny mouse-sized body. Her eyes regarded him with their red sheen. Then she blinked, and smiled. “Hahah,” chuckled Kiryl, in an attempt to make light of the situation. “I was attempting to attract your attention, and you nearly flattened me to pancake with your foot… then I tried to pull at your ankle, to which you replied with a threatening slap that did give me horrible feeling that I was about to be crushed… I suppose I was better off constructing message in dirt or some other safer form of attention-finding.” As usual, the priest elected to take the blame. “So… it was good I took sips from drink before you, nyet? I would not wish for you to suffer such a cruel curse as this one.”

“Aw, but you are so cute in this bite-sized state, Kiryl!”

“B-bite-sized—?!”

Before Kiryl could continue his thoughts, Alena picked Kiryl up with two fingers, pressing against his chest and back, and took a closer look at him. “Sooo tiny~!”

“Yoy! Tsarevna, please to replace me on solid ground, I—” Kiryl couldn’t help but look down. Below him was the rest of Alena’s seemingly-gigantic body, and then the cold, rough stone beneath that. So far down. Sooo faaaar dowwwn!! The poor man’s acrophobia triggered, sending chills down his spine and giving him accentuated nausea.

“Oh? Alright!” the tsarevna seemed to have noticed her retainer’s request, and set him down carefully onto the stone porch, much to Kiryl’s relief.

It was then that the cackling of the witch came into the two trick-or-treaters’ ears once more. The succubat lady had almost forgotten about her, now facing her again with a very unimpressed look. However, after recalling how she had frightened her earlier with her vigorous foot stomp, now Alena smirked. “Fun trick you have played on us, old witch!” she began. “Now, please to return my friend to proper size, so we may continue collecting treats.” She let her grin widen as she cracked her knuckles and stretched her arms as an added measure.

“A-Ah, yes, of course,” the witch replied. With a jingle of magic, the old woman cast a spell on the tiny scarecrow priest. Alena was ready to deliver one heck of a knuckle sandwich directly to the old lady’s face if this spell turned out to be another trick, but it seemed that was not necessary. In a flash, Kiryl had grown back up to size! …A little too tall, in fact, by a few inches, but eh, it didn’t really matter! Surely the spell would wear off on its own eventually. The startled man took a few moments to look over his body, breathing in and out, before finally relaxing.

“Ahem,” Kiryl cleared his throat, his voice having returned to its usual, deep state. “I suggest we make retreat, Alena.”

“Hm… sounds fair to me!”

Despite the fact that the two had not received actual candy from the old witch, they moved on, having had their fill of tricks from her. After picking up their pillowcases again, they waved a goodbye as they did to the rest of the town’s residents, but nothing more.

Unfortunately, though, despite Kiryl’s continued begging, Alena still opted to check out the remaining two houses in the outskirts. “You were not even harmed!” was her reasoning. “We can additionally improve our attentiveness, also!”

As the two moved, it became increasingly chilly outside. A smooth breeze seemed to pass straight through Kiryl’s clothing, leaving him with his arms crossed, teeth chattering and body shivering uncontrollably. Alena, however, seemed content, her costume most likely being warmer anyhow, with all that fuzz. A gentle fog descended on the pathway they walked through, snaking between the many trees. The light of another house’s jack-o-lanterns was visible in the distance. But along the path, Alena noticed a wide creek reaching up close to the path.

_How interesting… if I gave Kiryl a shove and held his head underwater, he would most certainly drown._

Alena stopped walking, mesmerized by the ripples in the creek’s water. Kiryl noticed and came up to her side. “What is it, Alena?” he asked.

_I can foresee exactly his response. As I hold his head beneath the surface, he thrashes and flails his arms, screaming for aid. Bubbles rise to the surface of the water, his last breaths escaping him. And in mere moments, his body goes still and sinks, ever so gently._

Alena blinked. “Oh, nothing,” she replied nonchalantly. “Let us continue.” With a smile, she urged Kiryl to go forward again, and he did, shivering all the while. Yet he did not complain, staying stoic in hopes that their luck may turn bright and they may enjoy themselves.

The tsarevna next took a long, hard look at the neck of the man in front of her. She watched how it moved with each step Kiryl took.

_One twist of my arms and his neck would be wholly fractured. It would be so simple. So easy. A flick of my wrist, and he would never see the light of day again. He would collapse wordlessly to the ground, no sound but the swift snap of his spine and the thump of his body, and I could leave him in this dense, shrouded forest where his corpse would never be found. All done just by my two hands…_

Alena glanced down at her right hand, seeing a dark splotch in her palm. Surprised, she took her hand up to her face—but it was nothing more than a shadow. Sighing, she looked forward again. The thoughts that clouded her mind turned her stomach sour.

_Sometimes it does feel awful to be as powerful as I am. Though, I suppose, many others are of similar situation. At any given moment, you or I could easily push a friend off a cliff and murder them. Or, like earlier, nearly crush their shrunken body with a firm slap. He did mention he feared he would be crushed. Oh, I can only imagine what went through his head. I could have turned him into globby mess of flesh and blood with bones broken and sticking out every which way. Gah, it is so joyous to deliver pain to the fiends of this world, but at times it feels as if I may accidentally make my friends suffer. I do not wish for this! I must take more caution, as Kiryl always tells me. …Perhaps it is simply the spirit of Halloween making me extra jumpy today. Yes, that must be it._

She took a few deep breaths to calm herself and ease her nausea. Feeling reassured, Alena skipped further ahead with renewed energy, as the two finally reached the next house.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

The succubat girl had already knocked on the door before the scarecrow even caught up. And when the door opened… the two were pleased to see a friendly-looking face.

“Trick-or-Treat!” said the two trick-or-treaters at the same time, to the young woman standing in the doorway. Unlike the witch, she seemed like just another innocent house-owner in plain clothes.

“Here you go!” replied the lady, dropping some candies into the pair’s opened pillowcases, which were now about half-full of candy each.

“Thank you!” the two said again in unison.

“Ah, you’re Tsarevna Alena, aren’t you?” the woman continued. “What a pretty succubat costume you have! But you don’t have wings?”

“Hahah, my cape becomes wings like this!” Alena described. She set her pillowcase down, then lifted up her cape at her sides as she did earlier that night, to make it look like bat wings.

“Aw, cute! But what if your arms were _real_ wings? You know, with magic?”

“Ooh, now you have my interest!”

“This had best not be a trick or curse—”

Kiryl was interrupted by the resident of the house casting a spell. Before the priest knew it, Alena’s arms had been transformed, her fingers lengthened and webbing growing between them, forming the membrane of the wing. They looked just like a succubat’s wings, and they blended in perfectly with the rest of her costume!

“Wow! You did not lie! This is premium!” the tsarevna exclaimed, flapping her new wings excitedly and taking off into the air, leaving gusts of wind to blow against Kiryl and make him shiver ever more. 

“Oh, and your feet should be able to grip things like bird feet, if you know what I mean!” the lady added.

“Truly?”

_Goddess, please…_ thought Kiryl as he looked upward to where Alena hovered in the air, slowly descending upon him…! The succubat girl latched her feet onto the scarecrow man’s shoulders. Two toes curled around the front, one around the back, just like a real succubat’s foot shape. He dropped his pillowcase onto the house’s porch as he felt himself slowly being lifted up. The sound of Alena’s wings flapping grew louder and quicker as she worked harder to carry his weight, while Kiryl tried not to flinch so as not to disrupt her. Better to let her have her fun, right? Thankfully, she was fully aware of Kiryl’s fear of heights and set him down again in just a few seconds, before landing on the ground again herself. The pair exchanged gentle, kind smiles of understanding.

Then in a swift _poof_ , Alena’s arms and feet returned to normal. Well, you couldn’t really tell a difference with her feet since the costume already mimicked the look so well, but her arms returned to their previous state. “Aww, over already?” the girl complained.

“Terribly sorry!” apologized the lady of the house. “I haven’t exactly perfected that extension of the Morph spell quite yet… perhaps your arms will transform again later tonight? I am not sure. Anyhow, take care, folks!”

The two shrugged, and decided they didn’t need to stick around, so off they went to the next house. Just one left, and they were both fairly close to each other, so no more long walks until they had to head to the next town.

_Oh-yoy-yoy… time after time, I must worry of our safety. I cannot trust these strangers, yet Alena is so willing to believe them. This is near torturous. Please let us exit this cursed zone soon…_

As Kiryl prayed to the Goddess, Alena led the two up to the next doorstep.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

The door creaked open, but no one was inside. However, out of the deep, dark room came the sweet aroma of candy. Drawn in, Alena stepped inside, calling out a “Hellooo?” every few seconds. Still no response. Kiryl followed Alena into the house. He was, at the very least, glad to be in the confines of a house and shielded from the harsh winds outdoors.

All of the sudden, several candles lit themselves up, illuminating the room, revealing a large banquet table covered in a wide variety of candy treats. On the corner of the table, a small paper note read ‘For guests. Take as much as you’d like!’

“A buffet!” Alena concluded. “Let us dig in!”

“Wait, Tsarevna! How can we be certain this is not a—”

Alena blinked at Kiryl, face stuffed with candy corn, marshmallows, and cookies.

“…Trap.”

The girl swallowed the contents of her cheeks. “Do not be so worrying, Kiryl! No one is truly out to get us on Halloween, it is festivity of kindness between man and monster! Cheer up!” She took a candy apple off of the table and shoved it inside the priest’s mouth, much to his surprise. “There you go!”

“Mmph, mmm mm mmmph mmph m mmmph!” the man tried to say, unable to get his voice out. Also unable to remove the entire candy apple from his mouth—it was stuck and wouldn’t pass through his jaw, which he could not open wide enough.

“Oh, uh, oops. Good luck with that!” the tsarevna said to her now-angered retainer.

Alena continued wolfing down more and more candy while Kiryl struggled with the candy apple, until the two both started hearing a strange and disturbing noise coming from deeper in the house. It sounded like it could either be just some floorboards creaking, or, a monster’s deep moaning. Kiryl felt a warm rush of blood surging through his body as his stress rose. His face began to sweat and his heart rate sped up at an alarming rate. Something was off, horribly off. Kiryl patted Alena’s shoulder to get her attention, and motioned toward the door impatiently, signaling for them to take their leave.

Finally, Alena gave in, marching to the exit with Kiryl, Kiryl doing so with unsteady legs, but the pair was met with an unfortunate complication out of nowhere. The door had shut itself closed with a loud SLAM that reminded Kiryl of the way Alena stomped her foot earlier that night. His fear intensified as he tried to deduce what was going on here and couldn’t figure out an answer—left alone with his traumatic thoughts of a near-death experience.

The two stopped dead in their tracks when the door slammed. Looking behind them, they noticed all the candles were extinguishing themselves one by one, reducing the light of the room to blackness. This house had no windows to let in moonlight or offer alternative escape routes. Now they were blind and trapped, until they could open the door.

But could they even reach it? When Kiryl took another step, he suddenly found that the floor was wet and slippery, and he tripped and fell down. The movement jostled the apple in his mouth further to the back of his throat, triggering a gag reflex for a brief moment. When he calmed down and breathed in, the odd smell of the substance on the floor entered his nasal passage, and made him cough just through his nose in response. It smelled like monster breath. Or, rather, monster saliva, seeping in through the cracks of the floorboards. Kiryl at last realized what was going on, and felt his heart thumping more and more forcefully inside his chest. _Ts-tsarevna, this house… this entire house is a mimic!!_ he wished he could yell, but of course, his mouth was still full.

“Oh, wow! Room is dark once more, and floor is moist! How crazy is that?!”

_ALENA! GET US OUT OF HERE!_ the priest desired to scream at the top of his lungs, as he dragged himself forward across the floor to attempt to reach the door or a wall and pull himself up. But instead of screaming, all he could manage was “MMM-MMMPH!!!” Even worse, the man was halted by the sudden tug of a strange, slimy object putting pressure around his left leg, almost akin to a boa constrictor, except insanely oversized. Kiryl’s fight or flight mechanism was going insane, screaming FLIGHT as his body, shutting out all other thoughts.

“I shall rescue us!” the tsarevna declared valiantly, as if she could read her friend’s mind, though Kiryl could not see what she was doing; he could only hold his breath and desperately claw at the floorboards to slow the rate at which he was dragged backwards, feeling the wood scrapings digging into his nails painfully. However, he did hear the girl’s footsteps increasing in volume up next to him and then quieting down in front of him. Then they stopped. “Oh, door is locked. Peh, predictable. But can you predict this, door?!”

BAM!

With one forceful kick, the wooden door had a large hole busted through it, with chunks of wood flying outward through it. Moonlight spilled into the house, giving Kiryl a reprieve from the spooky darkness. The succubat girl took one hand and grabbed Kiryl’s arm, hauled him off the floor, and threw him through the hole in the door. Whatever object had been tugging on his lower body had slipped off and slithered back into the depths of the house. Kiryl didn’t want to think about it, but it was probably the mimic’s tongue, a long, slimy snake-like thing that would travel around the house and pull in unsuspecting travelers when they least expected it, down into the bowels of the basement where the beast’s stomach lay.

Kiryl tumbled onto the ground outside, Alena leaping through the door and landing next to him. Finally no longer fearing for his life, Kiryl regained enough composure to stand himself back up and on his legs and look back at the house they had just left. With fury, the priest charged up a Whack spell and cast it straight through the hole in the door, aiming for the tongue-thing. With a sharp and satisfying SHNNG, the house began to crumble before Kiryl and Alena’s very eyes. The debris disintegrated into dark purple mist that floated off into the sky, leaving behind nothing but a massive hole in the ground. It took the pair a few moments each to calm down and collect their thoughts, and then at last Alena spoke.

“I… am sorry I did not listen to you earlier. I did not realize some monsters would actually attempt to harm us. Eat us, in fact. I had such positive interaction with friendly succubat in center of town, all seemed so well…! Ah, allow me to aid you with your candy apple.” The tsarevna turned to her retainer, reaching up to his mouth, where the stick of the candy apple poked out. With a tight grasp, and after Kiryl gave a quick thumbs-up to signal that he was ready, she yanked the candy out from his jaw.

“YOUCH!” the man cried, instantly bringing a hand up to his mouth. “Y-You pulled out a tooth!” One of Kiryl’s front teeth had come out with the apple, leaving a bleeding vacancy behind.

“Aga, my apologies!” Her look of surprise and concern was all Kiryl needed to feel comforted.

“Not to worry, I can heal it back…” the priest reassured, beginning to cast a Fullheal. When that was completed, his tooth was restored. He regretted not casting such a spell earlier, just to feel less sore in general. But that wasn’t important now—his injuries were now healed, especially including his bleeding nails from the splinters he’d obtained. “Ah, much better… Where were we? Ah, yes. Hostile monsters. It may be Halloween, but this does not mean everyone will magically be nice to one another, Alena. Just as there exist quarrels amongst our own race, so there will be quarrels between us and monsters, even on Halloween. As you interacted with succubat, I had awful run-in with stark ravens, who ripped up my costume. That, among other previous anxieties, caused me to be so cautious tonight.”

“I see… Thank you for informing me. No longer shall I assume all are kind treat-givers. Let us be detectives for evil together! None shall get away with truly despicable deeds this night!” She pumped a fist enthusiastically and smiled.

“That is the spirit, Tsarevna! Yes, let’s!” Kiryl smiled in return.

It seemed the two had regained energy and joy. At last, they’d be able to conquer Halloween!

* * *

In the center of Zalenagrad, Kiryl and Alena took a short break from their excursion. Kiryl wanted to return to the middle of town where it was relatively safe compared to the shady outskirts, and as a bonus, the abundance of lit torches in the area did wonders to warm him up from the chilly breeze that had been plaguing him in the wood. Lastly, the two would be able to better orient themselves for travelling to their next destination on the continent of Maestral, Taborov. It was a rather long walk, but one they’d done several times before, so it would be no issue for them, walking directly out of Zalenagrad on the non-shady side and heading north, then east.

As the couple sat on log benches in front of a campfire, Alena perked up upon overhearing a conversation in the distance. Urging Kiryl to join her, the two went to investigate.

“You wanna see how fast I can cut your bodies in half? Heheheheh!” a menacing voice said. Childish screams followed. When the succubat girl and scarecrow man arrived at the scene, they watched as a large, muscular man chasing a group of children dressed as slimes, and real slimes. The large man wore typical ruffian attire, though he had a strange white mask with red paint splattered on it. Similarly, the weapon he held in his hands was stained with red paint. The weapon was a rather vicious-looking chainsaw, and it was on with a loud BRRRRRR noise. The kids and slimes ran for their lives, the muscular man chasing them around the town.

“Unacceptable!” Alena remarked with righteous indignation. “I shall to punish this man for scarring these poor children and threatening to slaughter them! He will not escape my punchings!”

“Ts-tsarevna, you do not have to go that far!!” Kiryl protested, worrying for the safety of the man. He brought on his supervisor's voice; his deep, stern tone. “I am certain he is simply making joke… one in definite bad taste, yes, but not worth retaliating over. A simple talk shall do trick.”

“Trick? Entire point of ‘Trick’ in ‘Trick-or-Treat’ is harsh punishment, Kiryl!” argued Alena.

“But that is for failure of delivery of candy!” Kiryl shot back, beginning to raise his voice in impatience.

“Kiryl! I shall to give man one punch to knock sense into him. What do you say?” Alena proposed, determined to have her way.

“I say, Alena, that I shall do talking to him and resolve this without further conflict.”

“Aga, you are always such pacifist… come on, please? Just one punch. I will even do it to you first to prove to you that it is indeed non-lethal!”

“Tsarevna, I do not wish to create brawl for all and sundry to see and join. I desired for us to be cautious, not revenge-seeking maniacs.”

“But look at fashion he is using to threaten and chase children! This is unforgivable!” As the two bickered, the man continued to chase the younglings, waving the chainsaw around to shoo away any bystanders that got too close.

At last, Kiryl sighed in defeat, his eyes following the man and his actions. Then he looked back to his friend. “…I will make exception for this case. Test punch on me, and do not tarry with delivery of punch to muscled man.” He wasn’t certain he’d withstand the blow considering his fatigue from how late it was, all the running around they’d done, and the spells he’d recently cast, but Alena’s resolve was unbreakable, so he had to let her do what she wanted. While the now-excited Alena happily entered a battle stance, Kiryl braced himself for impact.

And what an impact it was. Alena had seemed to charge up for it, Kiryl not sure if her fist was glowing or if it was just an illusion, and with untrackable speed, Alena brought her fist straight into Kiryl’s chest, knocking the wind right out of his lungs. The last thing the scarecrow man saw before his vision went entirely black was Alena’s thrilled mid-strike expression.

* * *

Alena stood up straight again, watching her retainer collapse on his back. “Kiryl?” she asked with a quizzical tone. There was no response. The man was still, eyes vacantly staring at the sky above him, but his body looked practically undamaged. The girl knelt down and shook him gently. Nothing. She shook more vigorously. Still nothing. He was knocked out cold. The succubat lady rose to her feet once more, and… laughed. “Hahah, silly Kiryl, falling asleep in middle of trick-or-treat excursion! You poor thing… must have been so incredibly exhausted from previous happenings tonight… I shall to let you sleep and continue on my own. Good night!” She waved a friendly bye to the body and skipped away. _Certainly he will relocate me and join with me again once he awakens,_ Alena thought. _He simply requires short nap at moment. Ah, where was I… yes!_

“YOU!” shouted the tsarevna with as intimidating a tone she could muster, pointing a finger at the man who had been chasing kids in circles around the town. He slowed down to a halt, curious to hear who had accused him.

“You wot? You got a problem wif me, chump?” the burly man threatened, brandishing his chainsaw, the BRRRR sound getting louder and more annoying as he approached.

Alena said nothing, cat-walking forward with her brows set into a determined position. Hand swiping fast, she snatched the chainsaw straight from the man’s grip—her hand clasped around the many tiny sharp blades of the weapon, but her hand was not reduced to shreds. When she gripped the weapon, it simply _stopped._ The chain could not continue spinning with her hand tightly on it. Over her knee, Alena used both hands and brought the weapon down, snapping the hunk of metal into two pieces as easily as if it were a pencil. She tossed the two halves away onto the ground nearby. Utterly horrified, the masked man fled with a swiftness Alena hadn’t seen from him this whole time. He tripped multiple times, frantically trying to escape from the succubat girl. Alena simply watched, a devilish grin sneaking upon her face. Seems he didn’t even need a punch after all.

Moments later, she noticed the previously-tormented children coming up to her side with amazed faces. “Wow! That was sluper duper cool, miss! Thanks for scaring that man away. But how did you goo it?” a young she-slime asked.

Alena put her hands on her hips, beaming with pride. “None can withstand fury of Tsarevna! This is precisely what all my countless hours of training has been leading up to! Ah, how great it feels to teach lessons to such rogues. Hm… what say you that I accompany you for next while? I may protect you from any further scoundrels!”

“Thank you very much! We were actually just about to head over to Taborov as group,” a young human boy said.

“Premium! Let us embark instantaneously!”

* * *

Whispers filled Kiryl’s consciousness. Among the many overlapping and echoing voices, he could only make out a few words. “… new one … young … shhh … who’s going to … no, no … go forth …”

In an instant, with a blink, he no longer saw blackness, but light. The torches. The lamps. It was the town. He was awake, and the whispers had vanished, too. His body felt numb and light, but nonetheless healthy, likely due to the recent Fullheal he had casted upon himself as well as the bit of rest he had gotten while he was knocked out. Standing up was no problem, and now he was left to simply explore around. And, well, Alena had disappeared. Without looking back, he headed toward the edge of town, fearing she had departed without him. And he was entirely right. The little succubat girl was leading a small band of kids and slimes out of Zalenagrad and toward Taborov. Relieved, the scarecrow man jogging up beside them. “There you are, Alena,” said the priest. “I am up and alive, so no more need to worry! I presume you were heading out to search for help for me…?”

“Finally, we are on our way to Taborov!” Alena replied, the kids humming in agreement. But none looked Kiryl’s way.

“R-Right,” Kiryl said, refusing to believe Alena had just given him the cold shoulder. _She merely wishes not to worry children, of course._

Many minutes later, the group arrived in Taborov, the small and quiet village. It was a very humble town, without many folks hanging around. No large crowds at all, in fact, apart from Alena’s squad. The tsarevna stretched and cracked her knuckles, ready to fill her pillowcase up with even more candy. It was at that moment that Kiryl realized he had not brought his own pillowcase with him. He was empty-handed, looking like an idiot. Embarrassed, he stood a decent distance from the group and just watched them collect candy together.

“Heh, sucks to be you,” a voice said, but the priest could not determine where it came from despite glancing behind and around himself. Regardless, his feelings were hurt, and he tried to brush it off as best he could, but something just felt so wrong and discomforting.

Kiryl was particularly unsettled at the sound of maniacal laughter coming from one of the doorsteps. Rushing over to the scene, he stood beside Alena, as the kids also watched from behind. With a toothy smirk, Alena dropped her pillowcase on the floor. “What is transpiring? Alena, what do you plan to do?” Kiryl asked in immense concern.

The succubat girl did what any real succubat would when threatened. In one swift motion, she launched herself onto the innocent man standing in the doorway, and before Kiryl even had the chance to protest, she sunk her teeth into the man’s neck. The man screamed in agony, arms struggling to push the girl off. Warbled “HELP!”s came out of his mouth, time after time, until he simply collapsed, skin turned deathly pale.

“H-H-How could you…” Kiryl stuttered, petrified at the situation.

“Peh, he got what was coming when he said ‘Show me your best trick’,” explained Alena, standing over the body. The smile on her face was full of joy and accomplishment… as blood streamed from either end of her mouth, where her fangs were.

Kiryl wanted to throw up, but there was nothing in his stomach to remove. He simply stared, his body remaining eerily calm, yet his mind was in shock. “Alena… f-fangs… the fangs! The fangs, that is it! I thought I took them off from you, but alas, my benediction spell was not a complete success, and now we are all the way in Taborov, far from a proper church such as Zalenagrad’s, and, oh, my magic power feels spent already…” His thoughts spiralled downward. Just what exactly was happening to Alena? Curses didn’t usually work like this. All he could manage to blurt out to her was, “Please, cease this unnecessary violence!”

As if on cue, the girl turned around to finally face the other children again who stood behind her. Kiryl stepped back, utterly afraid. The girl licked her lips, wiping up the blood back into her mouth. Her eyes looked at each kid, one at a time. In the orange torchlight, her eyes were as red as fresh blood. Fresh like the blood she just drew from the poor village man.

The kids screamed and ran. Slimes scurried off into bushes, and kids looked for the nearest adult who could comfort them. One kid tripped, triggering Kiryl’s compassion in a flash, and he went over to help the boy up. But he was quick, and got himself up with no problem. However, Kiryl now stood in his way—!! …Or …not?! Kiryl felt absolutely nothing as the little boy simply ran _through_ him. As if he wasn’t even there at all. As if his presence was nothing more than a figment of his own imagination. As if he was dreaming. As if…

“Jeez, that was rough,” said the same voice from before that Kiryl could not pinpoint. This time, however, when he turned his head, he saw the monster staring at him. One of those orange ghosts with the big, long tongues. “I actually feel kinda sorry for ya, dude. Your girl’s definitely been cursed. Probably by that Psaro dude. He’s been doing it a lot. Though most people get some sort of curse that ends up harmlessly scaring them. This is the first I’ve seen where the curse has made them a total killer. Pretty crazy stuff.”

Kiryl did not know how to reply to the ghost’s words. But ever since he woke up in Zalenagrad, this monster was the first being to truly acknowledge him. Alena wasn’t giving him the cold shoulder; she literally _could not see him_. Distracted from the scene around him, Kiryl looked down at his hands. The priest no longer saw a human body, but a translucent, white outline of a body. A hollow, wispy mist making the rough shape of his figure, and his scarecrow costume. He was nothing more than a spectre, a wandering spirit, unnoticeable by all save the other ghosts of the world.

“Oh, I see you’ve just now realized you’re a ghost, huh? Well, not to worry! With the right ritual, you can bring yourself back to life! But me? I’m just a monster. I was gifted the ability to see other spirits by the Dark Whatshisface.”

Kiryl finally processed the situation. “She… she did this to me. I should have sensed this. She has turned entirely psychotic. I-I have to do something to stop her from harming more people, and figure out some way to cure her!!”

“Yeah, yeah, you go man!” said the orange ghost, surprisingly supportive.

But the support fell short on Kiryl’s ears. “But how?!” _I have no physical form as a ghost. None can see or hear me. I cannot warn anyone of the peril Alena poses. My entire purpose as a guard, to protect others, is shattered. I cannot give aid to anyone. Goddess, take me now. I cannot bear to stand idly by as innocent civilians continue to be slaughtered._

“You know, you CAN still touch stuff, if you focus hard enough. Anywho, gotta go, good luck dude!”

That one piece of information offered the priest a twinkle of hope. But before Kiryl could press the monster for more advice, he vanished into the air without a trace, Kiryl reaching out as if to stop him. The ghost priest’s extended arm halted, now unsure what to do. Soon, another voice came.

“Wh-what’s going on?”

Turning toward the source of the voice, he saw a spirit had just rose from the corpse Alena left in the open doorway. Oh, and Alena had long since disappeared again, too. “Sir, I, uh, do not know how else to describe this, however, you are a ghost.” He shrugged his arms, trying his best to stay calm in hopes of comforting the poor soul.

Unfortunately, his approach failed miserably. “KYAHH!” the spirit screeched, prompting Kiryl to cover his ears with his hands, but it made no difference. Instead, he opted to run away, deciding he’d better go off searching for Alena anyhow. Hopefully she didn’t get very far yet.

It wasn’t long before Kiryl caught up with the succubat girl, his ghostly form practically letting him glide across the town with ease. But how could he intervene without a physical presence? No living person could see or hear him, and he couldn’t cast spells without his body’s magic to draw from.

_Ghost monster did mention I can hold objects… but is it also possible for me to possess others as is described in fiction? Perhaps even Alena herself? I shudder to think of the potentiality, but…_

As the spectre approached the red-eyed woman, she was climbing up the porch of another house. Before she could knock on the door, Kiryl tried to stick his hand into her body, and, well, nothing magical happened. He tried sinking further inside, deeper and deeper, until… he gave up. What was the point? This certainly wasn’t working, and it didn’t seem like it was going to solve much either. What the priest really needed was a chance when Alena wasn’t on a bloodthirsty murder rampage so he could find his body and use his magic to properly cure Alena. Until then, he’d just have to save as many people from harm as he could. Backing off from the tsarevna’s body, he watched as she knocked three times on the door and asked the woman inside for candy. When the lady produced the goods, Alena didn’t hurt her at all.

_Wait. She did not harm this lady. What manner of ailment IS this?_

Kiryl continued following the girl. Innocently, she took candy from the remaining houses of the town, saying nothing about how Kiryl or the kids and slimes were gone. Did she no longer care about them?!

Entirely alone, minus the invisible ghost that trailed her, Alena left the town and headed east to Vrenor, the last town on the continent that the pair had originally planned to visit before heading back to Zamoksva.

* * *

_Kiryl is going to be so very much surprised when I show him how much candy I have procured! I am of much excitement!_ thought Alena as she trotted into Vrenor. The town was of moderate stature, perhaps in-between the glory of Zalenagrad and Taborov.

Alena took in one huge breath of fresh air. “Mmm, the wonderfully warm scent of burning torches once more!” She eyed the area around her. There was a variety of people hanging about, including some large monsters like an archdemon and great sabrecat. A teenager in a werewolf costume neared Alena and chuckled at her. “Wow, you’re so short. You really think you’re scaring anyone in a costume like that?” he slandered.

Alena wasn’t about to let the boy have a laugh. “Oh, I can show you just how much a fright I can truly be.”

“I’d like to see you try.”

Alena grinned. _This entire town is vulnerable. I could make such swift work of them. But I cannot. I promised myself I would not murder tonight. It is not night of violence, it is night of playful tricks. Just like trick I played on man from Taborov. I pretend to suck their blood like vampire, and they always play along, falling down and acting dead. How very useful these folks are! I do somewhat regret inciting fear in those small children, but… ah, I will find them tomorrow for apologies. In meantime, allow the Halloween tricks to continue!_

The tsarevna marched over to the first house, the werewolf teen following close behind out of curiosity. When the lady opened the door at the sound of the knocks, Alena immediately pounced upon her and bit her neck. The force of her canine teeth punctured the woman’s flesh, letting blood escape. But the girl tasted nothing, continuing to dig her teeth in harder, causing increasingly pained yelps and screams to come from the woman’s mouth. _What wonderful actress she is!_

After a moment, she let go, the corpse falling to the ground, and she licked her lips from what she assumed were just saliva drippings. But when she turned back to see if she had impressed the werewolf boy, he had already vanished. “Not amazed? Then I will do same to ALL residents of this village!” she announced.

Suddenly, the neighbouring townsfolk stirred more and more, causing a kerfuffle in the middle of town. It seemed they were watching from a distance, and when her announcement reached their ears, it was time for them all to panic. Instantly, an archdemon dropped his pitchfork and made a run for it. Other monsters and dressed-up humans began to follow. Alena slowly strolled her way over, amused by the situation she’d caused.

On her way there, the strangest thing she noticed was what happened to the discarded pitchfork. The comically oversized fork gently raised itself upward and began to hover above the ground. Alena wasn’t sure if she was hallucinating, but she thought she could make out a faint white and wispy aura around the fork. Puzzled, she pursued the fork as it travelled around the town, thrusting itself through the air in short motions to usher folks back into their homes. It was so hilarious to watch, Alena began to giggle. “Oh, I wish Kiryl were here to see this, hahah! This possessed fork is most stupendous sight I have seen all night! Hmm, speaking of Kiryl, I have not seen him in such long time. Is he still asleep? Ah, I had better go rouse him, then! Time to return to Zalenagrad!”

* * *

_She does care!_

The ghost scarecrow dropped the pitchfork he held onto the ground, his job complete. The villagers were safe, and Alena was leaving to go find him back in Zalenagrad. “Now is my chance,” the spirit said to himself. “Either I return quicker and resolve my revival on my own, or she assists me, and then I will at last remove this curse once and for all. No longer will she go about murdering innocents.”

Much to Kiryl’s surprise, when he next looked at his friend, the succubat girl had magically regained bat wings again, which she looked at briefly before deciding to use them to take off, her pillowcase grasped by her feet. That wonky Morph spell must have kicked in again, just like the lady from Zalenagrad said.

_Oh, Goddess, please to guide me home safely…_ Kiryl prayed. Upon leaping off of the ground, the priest’s ghost was able to soar through the air, nearly unaffected by gravity. In short moments, he silently passed by Alena as she flew. Good. If he could find out how to bring himself back to life, then they’d get this all sorted out much faster.

When Zalenagrad came into sight, Kiryl overflowed with relief. The moonlight still bathed the town in its cool, blue glow, the orange torchlight providing additional illumination as well. But it seemed all the town’s residents and visitors alike had disappeared. When the priest’s spirit landed on the ground, he was alarmed to find that no one had thought to tend to his body, which still lay on the ground near the middle of town. Why had people left it alone? That poor smudge of a corpse that Kiryl approached. When he got nearer, however, he soon realized why.

The stench was the first tell. Though he was a ghost, his senses still functioned, and the rancid stink tormented his mind. He could not cough or gag to relieve himself. He had no bodily reflexes as a ghost. Only senses he was forced to perceive. It was torture, smelling the rotting flesh and metallic scent of blood. Upon closer inspection of his corpse, his heart would have sunk inside his chest if it could. Kiryl’s first guess: A massive mob of ravenous crows had swooped in on the town, scared everyone away or back into their homes, and ravaged Kiryl’s body before leaving. Crows were scavengers, after all, and Kiryl’s fresh flesh was prime for the taking. The clothes on his limbs and torso were almost all ripped apart. Much of his muscle mass had been eaten down to the bone, leaving some tendons, cartilage and dripping blood behind. Even one of his eyes had been pecked out, leaving a juicy, fleshy hole in its place. The body lay with limbs bending in directions they shouldn’t have been bending in. A small swarm of flies buzzed around.

While Kiryl had witnessed many violent sights in the past on his adventure with the Chosen, this was something else entirely. He wasn’t just murdered, he was mutilated. Eaten. So horribly mangled that it seemed impossible to live in even if he could reconnect to the body. The ghost slumped down, shock preventing him from being able to think anything except _It’s over._ He wanted to cry, but he couldn’t. Instead, he stared with an empty expression at himself. His corpse.

The moonlight faded; the moon was obstructed once again by clouds rolling in. The spectre watched in his peripheral vision as raindrops began to fall, one by one, on his body and the ground surrounding him. The rain picked up faster and faster as the seconds passed, soon snuffing out the torches, lamps and jack-o-lanterns in the area, reducing the town to pitch-black darkness. It felt like being stuck inside the mimic house again, instead, this time the entire world was the mimic house. A cruel world that wanted nothing more than to slurp him up into its murky depths and swallow him whole, never to have solace in knowing what would happen to Alena afterward. In truth, that was all he cared about now. He didn’t have to live. But if Alena could be cured, safe, alive… Kiryl could rest in peace.

It seemed fate didn’t want it that way.

In a bright flash, the scarecrow priest suddenly felt _pain._ A terrible rumble assaulted his body and ears before quickly calming down. He could feel his body aching to fill itself with more blood. He couldn’t move his limbs, not just because he lacked the energy, but because he lacked the muscles. He coughed out… _something_ from his mouth. He carefully cracked his eyes open, but one of them didn’t even feel like an eye, but rather like lips. Disgusted, Kiryl decided to keep his eyes closed. Although he couldn’t put his thoughts into words in his own head, he knew what had happened—the lightning strike that just hit him had somehow allowed his spirit to reconnect to his body.

Kiryl’s nervous system was going haywire. So many nerves around his body had been cut off, now desperately sending signals to his brain to warn him of the damage to his body. The agony was excruciating, as if he was at -500 HP and forced to remain alive and conscious. However, even those signals dissipated when his body simply ran out of energy to do anything. Only then could Kiryl focus hard enough to search deep inside himself for hope—for even a drop of magic power he could use to cast one Heal spell. Praying as hard as he could to the Goddess, Kiryl managed to mutter out the word “Heal”, and waited for the result, concentrating on locating that teensy weensy bit of magic power he needed. At last, he found it—in his feet. Figures, considering how his shoes had protected them from the crows. His feet had life, blood, flesh, and most importantly, an ounce of magic power. Drawing on that power, Kiryl felt the pleasant sensation of the magic-infused blood as it flowed upward across his legs, spreading out, cells multiplying, rejuvenating, thickening into muscle and skin, covering his exposed bones up with proper flesh once again. The blood reached his torso and arms and did the same. However, the spell ended, magic expended, when it reached his face. His head itself had been mostly untouched, but his one eye was still missing. The spell wouldn’t be able to mend his clothes either, leaving them ragged and torn. But this would do.

The pain and soreness returned as his body now had a functioning nervous system again, but after a few more moments of stillness and meditation, Kiryl was able to become numb to it and finally stand up, slowly and carefully, bending his limbs back into their proper positions, doing his best not to slip on the moist ground. The flies had also taken their leave, thankfully. The main problem at this point now was that he needed a full night’s rest to recover his mana before he’d be able to cast another benediction spell to try to cure Alena.

_Speak of the devil…_

Among the continuous tapping of the rain, a harsh flapping noise entered Kiryl’s ears abruptly. He tried to open his good eye, but saw nothing. Whether his eye was open or closed, it made no difference to his view. It was nothing but the complete absence of light. That is, until a flash of lightning in the distance offered a blink of illumination. In that blink, the white-and-red figure of the supreme succubat was visible to the priest. She was right in front of him, uncomfortably close, and smiling. It seemed her arms were back to normal again, too. As the lightning continued, forming a steady rhythm among the clouds, a thunderless light show, the moon also snuck through the clouds in a small opening to provide ample light for the two to see decently. The rain slowly passed, as well, making for the perfect conditions to have a conversation. How convenient.

Kiryl suddenly became aware of his bodily irritability again. His heart was racing, he was both freezing cold and sweating profusely, and he struggled to keep his legs steady. He couldn’t think of what to say to Alena before she spoke up.

“Kiryl! You are awake!” exclaimed the tsarevna, her voice sounding as cheery as natural. “Did you have nice rest?”

Finally, Kiryl collected his thoughts. _I do not possess time to explain true situation to her. I must make haste and get to point._ He cleared his throat. “Alena, we must return home instantaneously and get rest. Do you not know what time it is at current moment? It is going to near sunrise if we stay up any longer.”

“But Kiryl, you just had lovely nap and I am still much energized!”

_Ugh, I require different approach._ “I do believe we have enough candy. Besides, people are beginning to close up. It is time we went home.”

“B-but… I went through so much effort to get extra sweets just for you…” The girl’s tone and expression turned pouty. “Do you not appreciate what I do for you, Kiryl? Do you hate me?”

“What? Of course not, Tsarevna. That is not what I meant! I wish for us to return home safely and rest so we may tackle tomorrow’s morning with vigor to consume as many sweets as we like.” _Please, allow me to get through to her…_

“Ah! So you do love me after all?” she asked.

The priest sighed. What did she want? Another confession? Well, if it was going to shut her up, he’d just have to think of one quickly off the top of his head. “Ever since we met, you have been the candy of my life, my guilty pleasure, my sugary treat to enjoy whenever we had time to spend together. As awkward as it is as a priest to admit, I had always wanted your heart, Alena.”

“My heart? Awh, you truly are a sweetie-pie! Heehee! I’ll give it to you ri̴g̛ht͠ n̵ow̢~”

The priest looked back in confusion. “Wh-what do you mean?”

Alena’s smile was as wide as her cheeks would allow, as she brought one finger to her chest and traced it down the white fabric of her costume. As she dragged her finger down, it cut deeper and deeper into her chest, the fabric splitting apart, as well as her skin underneath. Blood flowed from out of the open gash wound. Once a large enough opening was created, the girl suddenly stuffed her entire hand into the wound. Into her chest. Not a moment later, her hand came right out, soaked in dripping blood, holding a pulsing mass of muscle. Half of the blood vessels were still connected to her body, stretched out and hanging from the gaping hole in her chest to her hand where she held out the organ to Kiryl. The other half of the blood vessels had been violently torn, now spilling more and more of that horrendous red fluid out of the blob Alena held.

“TS-TS—?!” Kiryl was about to say something. About to scold her, ask her to put her heart back into her body, _something._ But he couldn’t. At the wretched sight, the pungent smell, his stomach could not take it. Before he knew it, his cheeks had been filled with vile fluid, and he rushed to retch the vomit out onto the ground. Hands on his stomach, doing all he could to comfort his body, he continued to spit out saliva. A lingering, repulsive aftertaste remained in his mouth that he could not get rid of. His legs finally gave in, leaving him to fall to his knees.

“W̴͟h̸at͢҉ i̸s̛͝ mat̢t͏̷̧e̷r͟͏,̡҉ ͘͢Ki̢͝ry͢͡l̡?͜͡”

He couldn’t respond. His throat was filled with mucus, saliva, and remnants of the puke. He kept on hoarking up saliva, bile, and other digested materials from inside his body.

“D̡͜͢͟o̷̡̨͠ ̵̨̕y̶̨҉͝o̷̢̕͢u̷̴̸̷͘ ̷͜͠n̶̸̨o̵͜͠ţ̵̧̧͘ ̕͢w̴͘i̷̵̡̛ş̵͜͡h̷͘͘͢ ͜͢͞ţ̢̨̛ơ̴͢ ̵̴̡ḩ͜͜͝o͜l̸̛͢͠d̨̡ ̵̷̨͡͝m̷̸͞y̸̡͘ ̶̨͜͠h҉͢ę̶̸͝a̵̷̕r͏҉҉t̨͜҉?͢”

The image couldn’t leave the priest’s mind. Her heart, lying on her hand, still beating. With every beat, the heart pumped more blood out which dripped down around her hands, the blood’s viscosity preventing it from falling until it made one long, sticky drip that extended down from the bottom of Alena’s upturned hand. As for smells, Kiryl didn’t know which was worse: the smell of the blood, or the smell of his own vomit that had passed through his nasal passage when he bent over to hurl.

In a last-ditch effort to attempt to free himself from the torture, the man tried the only thing his mind could suggest to help him find peace. And that was to bash his very own head into the ground to try to knock himself unconscious. Maybe that could finally stop the disturbing images from harrowing his mind. With a burst of adrenaline, Kiryl pulled himself into the ground, headfirst. The pain was intolerable. The immense headache, the bruise, the concussion… he fainted from sheer shock.

* * *

It was quiet and calm inside the abandoned monster castle. Candles flickered, a warm and comforting bedroom housing a princess, still in her costume.

“Gargle this.”

Alena took the glass of salted water from the man standing over her. With one sip, she cleaned out the back of her throat with a few seconds of gargling, then spat out the water onto the floor beside her bed. “Much thanks.” At last, the awful metallic taste of blood that had been in her mouth since she woke up was mostly gone. The girl set a cold hand on her chest. She was relieved to feel the steady beat of her heart, safely inside her ribcage. Feeling comfortable, she decided to squeeze information out of the demon man that had saved her and her friend. “Why did you come back for us, Psaro? You were the one to present cursed fangs to me.”

The Manslayer let out a long sigh, as if unsure how exactly to explain himself. But after about a minute of silence, he spoke up. “You see, it’s Halloween, and I’m a demon. Of course I’ll have urges to let some of my violent side loose and wreak havoc. I won’t kill any innocents, I can assure you of that, but I’ll be doing my job of ensuring people know Halloween isn’t to be taken lightly. It’s a sacred festival invented by my ancestors who used to ravage this land once a year. It teaches people fear, yet also fosters trust between others. Without a little bit of fear, well, you’re not human. As a demon, I know no fear, but at least I have the opportunity to teach others of it. To let them grow and develop, so they may at times defeat the true evils in their lives. …Also, it’s kind of fun to scare people.” He let himself laugh for a moment before his expression turned serious again. “I never intended for it to go this far. I have grown rather fond of you humans, as much as it pains me to admit it. Your merry gang saved Rose, after all. I felt I owed you a favour for the trouble I caused. That’s why I decided to find you two, make sure you were both knocked out with some quick Zam spells, bring you back here to the Diabolic Hall while no one else is here, and heal you up, including removing your curse, Alena.”

“Hm… You do such terrible deeds on Halloween to teach fear, you say? And yet, in my foolish hallucinations, I told myself that others were acting just to please me, that they were not at all afraid, that they were not at all in danger… I murdered them in cold blood.”

“There is time yet to resurrect them. With help from that priest friend of yours, we can cast Kazing or Fullheal on anyone you harmed, just as I healed you. We need only be wary of those who survived your bites.”

“Ah, Kiryl! Where is he?”

“In the room opposite of us. I wished to speak with you alone first, since I felt you deserved an apology forthwith. So… have you any more questions?”

“Just what exactly _was_ that curse, Psaro?”

“The plastic fangs cursed you as soon as you put them on. The curse is designed to amplify your most exploitable personality trait, and twist your morals towards apathy. A simple curse, and one that lacked the power to do much change. That is why I thought it safe to give to you, in hopes that you and your retainer may have a more, er, _interesting_ night. I miscalculated your traits, however. The curse sensed your violent tendencies and capitalized upon them. All the curse needed to do was blind your vision, make you think that ‘pretend-slaughter’ was alright, especially since it is the night of Halloween. That is why the curse had such a profound effect on you.”

“Goddess… I wonder what would have become of Kiryl if he were one to obtain curse instead.”

“I’m not sure which of his traits is most exploitable. Hm… let’s not make presumptions.”

“True.”

“…”

“Psaro?”

“Yes, Alena?”

“Would you mind bringing me some plain water? I am of terrible thirst.”

“Of course, Alen—UGHHH…”

The girl stared at the demon man, who now suddenly had a spear entirely impaled through his chest, directly through his heart, it seemed, and the tip pointed at Alena’s face at a dangerously close proximity. The spear was coated in bodily fluids, one drop falling from the tip of the spear and onto Alena’s chest. In the next moment, the spear was ripped backward through the puncture it had made, and the demon’s body fell limp to the floor. Behind where Psaro had stood, Alena now saw the silhouette of a tall figure, with a straw hat, beige overalls, and green flannel shirt…

“Tsarevna!” Kiryl exclaimed to the young succubat girl still lying down in the bed. “You are safe, now.”

“What is wrong with you, Kiryl?! Psaro healed us both, he is no threat!”

Kiryl ignored everything she said, and instead walked up beside her, stowing his weapon—it seemed to have been a random spear stolen from one of the many weapon stands lying around in the building. “You are all right! I am so glad. Thanks be to Goddess.”

Alena’s mouth remained agape as she tried to form words, yet also inspecting Kiryl close up. His outfit was still horribly torn. The tsarevna could see the Lichtenberg figure on his chest, suggesting he had been struck by lightning. The fractal of progressively smaller branches of the blackish burn scar spiralled outward from the middle of his chest. _I thought Psaro healed him,_ she thought. _Perhaps this is just because it is a harsh scar…?_ Her eyes going up to his shoulder, something even more concerning came into view.

Two deep holes in his neck, just the right size and distance apart to be as if a vampire had sucked his blood.

Before Alena could piece together what it meant, Kiryl continued talking. “I got rid of that horrible demon for you. He did not hurt you, did he?” He brought a hand down to caress Alena’s cheek. The gesture was entirely unsettling, the complete opposite of what it seemed the priest intended. Yet his two healthy eyes regarded the girl with tenderness. Kiryl had been squinting one eye in their last conversation—perhaps it was hurt, so now it did seem like Kiryl was in fact healed.

“Psaro healed us, Kiryl… h-he…”

“He was trying to make you an ally and then betray you, I am certain of it. Especially considering he had always expressed his distrust to me as a holy man, and likely wished vengeance upon you and I both. After that man cursed you, I knew I could never trust him again.”

“Kiryl, he helped us save the world!” argued Alena, sitting up in bed and slapping Kiryl’s hand away. But he didn’t even flinch. Just let his hand retract to himself gently.

“Anyone can change, Alena.”

Something about the way he said her name ticked her off. His tone of voice was like nothing she had ever heard from him before. The slowness, the calmness, the lack of emotion apart from some sickening kind of love. His hand delicately moved toward her again, and she backed away from it. “GET AWAY FROM ME!” she screamed in a mix of fear, fury and sadness.

Kiryl was taken aback. “Alena… I regret to inform you of this… but I believe you have already been cursed once more.”

“ME? It’s YOU who’ve been cursed!” she shot back.

“Forgive me, Alena, but I must put you o͠ut ̛ơf̧ ̵your mi҉ser͟y̶.”

“WHAT?!”

“Y̨o͢u ̡̕a͠ŗe ̢͜t̷͡o͢͡o̡ j͢u͡͏m̕p̸͡y ҉a̷̴ ̨͡s̸u̷b̸̵̵je͜c̡̧t̸ ̷͝͠t̵͏͘o͏͢ cu͘͟r̸͞e̕.͠ ̛I̶ w͏i̢͜l͏̕l̷͢ ̴j̴̸̧ư̴̢͟͞s̶͞t̨͟͡ ̕͏h͜͠͝a̶̸̧͞v̡͠e̴͠ ̷̧͡͞t̢͢͝͝o̡҉̷̶ k̴̷͖͉͕̥͉͖̼͓̞͔͎͙͍̹̣̤͈̻̰͐̆͆̊̅͌͑̓̂ͪ̈́̈́ͮ͟͝i̧̖̱͈̝̤͖͈̪̖̣̩̦̭͖͕̤̅͗̑ͦ̎ͧͨ͐͗ͦ͒̎̋͘lͫ̎ͦͨ̄͆͑̃̊ͮ̓ͣ̓̿͏̷̷̻͍̳̺̱̙̹̥̞̠̕l͔̖̦͔̩̱̠̣̙̫̮̳̹̻̫̇͗͑͘͘͟͝ ̦̗̱̬̫͕̭̯̻͙̤̝̺͙̱̪̾̓̋́́ͪ͌ͥ̋̆̚͡͞yͥͤ̃̀ͯͩ̈́̂̐̏͞͠͏͏̣̤̤̰̪̼̱̤̹͙̤͎̳̣͙̹ͅͅo̶̢̡̧̜̖̺̳̺̺̫͓̫̪ͭ̀ͤ͗̀̆͗ͩủ̢͚̥̘̮̪͓̟̝͇̩̝͈͕̜̙͙̣̗͈̂͆͊͋͒̂̕ ̶̨̮͕̭͎̹͓̗͔̤̏̅͂͐͊ͅi̸̢͕̺̣͙̝͕̥̯̫̠̰͔̪͇̲̲̘̯̔̆͂̊̍͒̒ͤͣ͗̈́̈́ͪ͌̏͂̕͝n̷̨̝̺̘̞̟̹̻͖̹̯͕̭̝͔͕̳̋̓͋͆̈ͦ́̑̏͐ͬͩ̃̚ͅs̴̵̷̨̗̭̣̹̠̞̪͚̞̖ͮ̊̾̉̊̋͊͋̓̓͌͋t̵͇̭̣̲̜̭͙̰͍͓̬̑̽ͥ̏̿͛͛ͮ̄̈́̍͢͢͜ē̊͛ͧͧ̈͟҉̩̩̼̱͇͙͞͡a̷̶̦͔̜̜̠͕͉͙̥̺ͩ̈̔͂͂͌͋́̂͐d̡̛͇̥̲̜̭͉̠͙͍̜͍̙̭̮͍͙ͦ̌̐̃̌͛̑̆̕.̣̲͙͖̥̫͓̤̝̳͙͇͕͈̖̺̎͌̇̈́ͤͫ̋̇ͤ͌ͫ͐̅̉̊̒͘̕̕͠”

The man did not smile. No, tears were in his eyes when he brought his demon blood-tainted weapon up and in position to stab in Alena’s direction. As much as it was about to hurt Alena’s heart, she only had one choice left. Retaliate, and her being the sane one to live would offer them a glimmer of hope that someone else could cure the curse, or maybe she could find an Yggdrasil leaf to bring Psaro back to life, and then…

Her thoughts were interrupted by the movement of the spear. As it was thrusted toward her, she quickly brought her leg to kick the weapon straight out of the priest’s hands, tossing it onto the floor a good distance away. Then, she jumped on the opportunity while Kiryl was momentarily stunned, to leap directly onto him, her hands slapping themselves onto either side of the man’s head. However, before she could twist his neck, two firm hands grasped her wrists and fought to throw her off. Alena kicked her legs, but all that came of it was that Kiryl staggered around the room until eventually tripping over Psaro’s body and collapsing onto the bed. Alena was lying down, facing up, and Kiryl was on top of her. Both were in extreme stress, sweating, breathing fast, thinking faster.

Alena felt a force from Kiryl’s arms, some immense strength that she had never felt before from him. His adrenaline level must have been off the charts. He somehow managed to pull Alena’s hands off of his ears, slowly but surely as she struggled against him. Trying to distract him, Alena spat out a glob of saliva onto Kiryl’s face. It landed right in one of his eyes, prompting a reflex to cover his eyes with his hands. That freed Alena’s arms and let her bring her hands to Kiryl’s throat. She hooked her fingers behind his neck and had her thumbs pressing against his esophagus and trachea, attempting to cut off his breath. She squeezed as tight as she could.

The priest’s expression turned even worse than before. Alena closed her eyes and tried to forget the image she’d just seen. His eyes were open so wide, it looked as if they were about to pop out. His jaw shook and vibrated violently. The life and complexion drained from his face.

Alena suddenly felt something land inside her throat while her mouth was open in her hyperventilation. It landed in just the right position to go down the wrong tube and trigger her to choke. More of the slimy fluid, drool, it seemed, landed around her face, too. Despite her choking, however, her fingers stayed strongly gripped on Kiryl’s neck determined to strangle him. She didn’t want to let go until she was sure he had entirely suffocated. As the seconds passed, her lungs screamed for fresh oxygen more and more, until she suddenly lacked the energy to keep her hands held around the man’s neck. His entire body fell downward onto hers.

Just before losing consciousness and fading into blackness, Alena felt a soft surface brushing against her lips.

* * *

When Alena next opened her eyes, she was drifting softly through the void. A dark expanse of nothingness. She could only see her own body—or rather, spirit. Her white, misty form. An eerie silence accompanied her. It was so quiet, all she could hear were her own thoughts, and her own hallucinations.

“You were supposed to live!” called out a voice from within her mind.

“Now what will surpass?!” said another.

“No one is around to help.”

“You failed.”

“This is your fault.”

“I am so sorry.”

“…!”

The last voice was not her own.

“I never should have allowed you to touch those fangs in very first place.”

Alena turned around to face the other direction. There was Kiryl’s soul, floating in the void with her. Attached to each of his wrists were ghastly chains drooping down underneath him, so long that Alena could not see the end of them as they faded away into the abyss. “Kiryl? No, no, no, this cannot be! I am the one to blame. If only I was not so impetuous, we would not be in this circumstance.”

“Nyet, Alena. Allow me to take responsibility—I perished in the midst of homicide, whereas you perished in mere self-defence. Consider this my final grace unto you. You are free to reside in the heavens above. Go on, enjoy your eternity of peace.” Once he finished talking, the priest brought a fist to his chest, in one final gesture of respect. Then he slowly began to descend, pulled down by the ethereal chains.

Alena tried to swim through the space between them, but she could not move. “NO! KIRYL!” she yelled in anguish, the distance between them growing ever greater.

Her suffering was halted by the sudden emission of light from something above her. The light engulfed her entire soul, bathing her in its warm glow and comfort. After a few blinks, she realized she was in the calm clouds of the sky, surrounded by welcoming folks with fluffy swan-like wings and bright yellow rings above their heads. The tsarevna let in a huge breath of fresh air and took in her gorgeous surroundings, immediately forgetting all her worries.

All of her senses were being pleased at once. The soft, luscious colours of the clouds eased her eyes. The fluffy, cozy presence of the sun-bathed clouds made her feel at home. The smell of fragrant flowers, the sound of birds singing their love songs, it was all so peaceful. She just wanted to relax in some sort of spa and have people do her makeup and massage her. That’s what all girls wanted, wasn’t it?

“Welcome, Alena,” a soothing, tranquil voice said to her. “I trust that Kiryl fellow bothers you no longer?”

Alena chuckled. “Who’s Kiryl?”

**Author's Note:**

> OooOoOOOoooH! You've made it to the end! Well done!
> 
> This was my first attempt in a while to make some seriously sp00ky writing. I hope you enjoyed, and have a happy Halloween!


End file.
